Taking care
by abelkd71
Summary: When Demyx discovers Zexion has become sick, he decides to help him out without getting much enthusiasm. But after the musician catches his cold, Zexion realizes returning the favor might not be so bad especially if they're going through it together.


A/N: I know there are a few stories with the scenario of Demyx and Zexion being together while one of them is sick and I really enjoy all of them so I wanted to put my spin on it. I hope everyone enjoys and please review.

Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts

There had never been an overwhelming concern for us, the nobodies of Organization XIII, to come into contact with experiences from our past lives. Despite the fact varying opinions of the group towards their others are present, the general belief shared among us is we don't want to have anything to do with or remind us of them. It's just memories from a time we can only see in our dreams that there's no control over so they might as well be forgotten. So we live these non-existent lives of ours in peace, hoping to avoid those situations although occasionally they make an appearance.

It started off as any typical day for me would with my favorite activity, reading. I was in the castle library, a designated room full of books located in the basement that was rarely visited by the more irritating members. Just the way I like it. Needless to say I'm very specific when it comes to who can be in my company and can't tolerate the constant stream of ignorance and incompetence from them. Still there is one nobody I am able to stand. Anyway I was in the library at the time reading a random book, it doesn't matter which I adore them all, or at least I was trying to.

At the time I couldn't explain the disruption. It was this annoying, burning sensation in my throat that hindered my breathing and made me cough sporadically. I tried to keep quiet and continue reading though it was difficult. That method got me by until the words I gazed at on the page started becoming blurry. I rubbed my eyes but to no avail and when I was so distracted I couldn't even remember what I was reading I grew frustrated, going so far as throwing my hardcover across the room. It generated a dreadful sound that made me cringe however that was the least of my worries.

Apparently the loud noise drew someone in to investigate if he wasn't already there checking up on me. I was relieved to discover it was only him walking over to return the book and place it on the table in front of me. Perhaps I was outwardly relieved to see him too with it possibly reflected in my body language though his positive outlook always affected me strangely. He stood there smiling his genuine smile and offered a casual response to break any tension present. My reputation often precedes me.

"Whoa you must've been reading something really awful for you to disrespect a book like that."

"D-Demyx…"

"Oh my gosh Zexion, you sound terrible!"

He was right. It was the first attempt I made at speaking all day and the hoarse, cracked tone to my voice proved enough to be cause for concern except I tried to maintain a composed attitude. It hurt to speak and the scratchiness in my throat was enhanced giving me two options. I could either try to suppress it which didn't seem to be such an effective method or swallow my pride and get it all out. Despite what I thought my body had different ideas and ended up going with the latter.

I broke into a dreadful coughing fit that was as harsh as it sounded and I assumed that would be enough to make him run away but he remained close by even leaning in to rub my back. It felt nice admittedly and although he reacted automatically I was appreciative because once the coughing subsided he still stood near, gazing at me with a worried expression. Still I wasn't going to let myself fall into this susceptibility of weakness and attempted getting up to walk away from him but he put his hands on my shoulders, pushing me down. We struggled for a few moments and I didn't have the strength to fight back though I did open my mouth to express my protest until I was cut short by not only an unexpected but completely disgusting of occurrences. I sneezed.

Prior to the incident, my nose had been fine but there was a tickling sensation in the moments before which I didn't realize until it was too late and now with the congestion loosened, it felt strange. But that was the least of my problems. It only occurred to me afterwards to cover my mouth, after stumbling down into the chair, when I brought my hands up and stared at him with a shocked look. He had jerked back, yelped with surprise and begun brushing off the front of his coat, appearing to be disgusted and confused at the same time except that only lasted briefly since his happy-go-lucky attitude quickly returned.

"Whoa it's a good thing I'm taller than you or else that'd of been bad."

"I… I'm sorry."

"Nah, don't worry. It was an accident. You can't help it because you're not feeling well."

"That's ridiculous."

"Oh really? It's not healthy to be coughing and sneezing plus you don't look so good."

"It doesn't matter. Nobodies don't get sick."

"Well no one has gotten sick but that doesn't mean it can't happen. I don't know why that is. It's not like we can't be susceptible to germs, we just don't have hearts, supposedly. And when you think about what we do: travel to all these strange worlds and run our bodies ragged with this crazy fighting, it's a wonder-"

"Enough, you're wrong. I'm not sick."

"Come on, don't be stubborn. You shouldn't deny the truth and there's really no point in hiding it. We're teammates and supposed to trust each other. If there's something wrong, I'd like to know so then I can help you. I understand you're very antisocial and don't have a lot of patience but-"

"Will you cut it out with the speeches? Fine, I'll admit it! I'm sick! There, are you happy now?"

I cringed after my explosion mostly because I didn't mean to yell at him. He was only looking out for me but I do have the tendency to become aggravated easily especially when cornered like that. However the worst was I started coughing again due to my throat being irritated from raising my voice. Even after trying to push him away, he still stayed with me which was when I knew he would be there until this had passed. Once he managed to settle me down, he went through the same motion of beginning to form a sentence then stopping to blankly stare at me. There didn't seem to be any reason for it and I wasn't the cause but he wouldn't say anything which forced me to speak.

"What is it?"

"Um… sorry, I don't got any tissues on me."

"Huh," I mumbled in a complete lack of coherence but it became clear when he casually made the gesture of bringing up a finger to his nose indicating for me to mimic it and I became aware that a trail of mucus dripping down my face, "Oh that's just perfect."

"Just suck it in."

"I beg your pardon?"

"You know, inhale through your nose to suck up the snot coming out. As a matter of fact, I haven't heard you sniffle once. It's weird because that's what you gotta do to clear all the stuff out."

"That's disgusting. Do you honestly believe I have such low self-respect to degrade myself in that revolting manner? In addition, I strive to keep my nose in pristine condition so why would I want to force the congestion to stay inside. I need to get rid of it but since I can't right now I just have to make sure I look presentable."

"Well you could always wipe your nose on your sleeve."

He was trying to be helpful and I understood that but I was becoming frustrated with his insisted interference. I wasn't in the mood to put up with the hassles of interaction except as I was about to offer another comment of rejection, I realized his advice would be useful. The familiar irritation in my nose returned and I hastily brought my arm up to cover my mouth in order to prevent a repeat of what happened before. Seeing as how I sneezed into my coat, there was no reason not to contaminate it further and I began rubbing my nose furiously through the leathery material until the situation seemed to be alleviated. Once it was finished I looked back up at him, exhausted and run out of patience, sarcastically attempting to find a resolution.

"Since you appear to have all the answers to my conundrums, perhaps you can tell me what I should do about this?"

"No, not I we, we're gonna deal with this because I'm here to help you. From now on you don't gotta worry about a thing. I'm gonna take excellent care of you."

"Suddenly I have the strong impression this will only bring me misery."

"Aww come on, it won't be bad I promise. You're sick and someone has to look out for you so since I'm already here, it should be me."

"Speaking of which, I'd be grateful if you kept this occurrence to yourself. I don't want anyone else to find out."

"Maybe you should go see Vexen. I'm sure he could help you."

"Absolutely not, I have too much dignity for him to know."

"But I thought he was your friend, Lexaeus too. They'd be worried about you because the three of you were-"

"I said no! If this gets out and the whole organization discovers I'm pathetic enough to catch a cold then I'll never be taken seriously. Appearances and impressions of dominance are so important to survive here and I can't tolerate some insignificant disease to ruin whatever authority I've built up."

"Okay, okay I get it. Still you can trust me so let's get going," he insisted and helped me get up slowly but just as I extended my arm to open up the corridors of darkness he stopped me, "Whoa you can't do that while you're sick. I'm pretty sure it's not good for you to be exposed to the darkness in such a weakened state."

"Then how do you suppose I travel?"

"I'll carry you to your room."

"How can you offer such a terrible suggestion?"

"No it's good. You don't realize it but you're about five seconds from collapsing onto the floor. I'm looking right at you and you can barely keep on your feet. There's no way you can walk that long distance. I'm not gonna take no for an answer but I promise you won't be seen."

It was surprising and a bit impressive to experience how forceful he could be yet at the same time mindful of my concerns and even though I wasn't given a choice, I still couldn't disagree because he was right. Reluctantly I nodded then allowed him to come over so I could climb onto his back and despite being awkward at first, I wasn't able to deny the relief I felt from not wasting what little energy I had left by walking. In addition, he moved at just the right pace so my body slightly bounced up and down from his movements to give the impression of being rocked. It might have been the toll of my illness to make me tired although either way I let myself relax and even rest my head against his shoulder, which he didn't seem to be bothered by.

I was comfortable and almost fell asleep until my breaths started to become shaky then before I knew it I sneezed, again. My arms were holding onto him but it wouldn't have made a difference due to the fact I was so dazed I couldn't react. He verbalized his disgust, momentarily stopped and brought a hand up to wipe off his neck except after that acted like nothing had happened; possibly thinking I was already sleeping. At the time it took me a few moments to comprehend the situation but once I did, I tried to express the sentiment only I was in such a poor condition the sentences needed to be shortened into simple words.

"Sorry."

"I keep telling you it's alright. How're you doing?"

"Good."

"Good?"

"It's… nice being carried."

"Ha I knew it, you couldn't resist being helped. Still you can't be feeling too good."

"I'm fine."

"No you're not. You're sick. I'll list your symptoms again if you forgot."

"That won't be necessary."

"Alright, just tell me what's bothering you the most right now?"

"I lost my sense of smell."

"Okay, well that'll happen with colds but I don't think-"

"Demyx."

"What?"

"I can't smell."

"Yeah, you already said that and I'm trying to tell you it's no big deal."

"You don't understand. My ability to detect scents is my power and it's gone. This is bad. Without it…" I desperately explained after realizing that horrible truth and paused to access how severe it really was by breaking my own refusal of inhaling through my nose to not only create a repulsive noise but to discover the congestion too prevalent for the air to pass through then in addition the unsuccessful attempt forced me to cough until I finished, keeping in mind to turn away this time before continuing to clarify, "I can't sense anyone."

"Calm down, your nose is just stuffed. Once you get better it'll come back. You don't need to worry about using your powers when you're sick."

"I still have to go on missions."

"Not until you're over this. I'll handle any work you miss."

"Really?"

"Sure, don't worry about that. Instead you should worry about your health because I think you're running a fever. Do you feel overheated?"

"I'm tired."

"You need a lot of sleep to help you recover. We're almost to your room so you could close your eyes until we get there."

I shook my head and mumbled something incoherently however despite otherwise my eyes slid shut involuntarily since it was a relief to have his permission to fall asleep on him. It couldn't have been more than a few minutes I was out due to the fact I woke up as he was setting me down on my bed. The familiar scenery of the numerous stacks of books spread out throughout my room was comforting although the brief interval of unconsciousness left me very disoriented. On top of all my other ailments I was dizzy and my head kept pounding. I knew at that point, I couldn't handle this on my own and needed help but right as I made that decision a box of tissues was held out to me.

Slowly, as not to aggravate my condition, I looked up from the hand that was attached to it into the pair of sea green eyes along with a smile. I hadn't become aware yet of what was going on and because of that, he pulled out a tissue to place in my hand with the instruction of blowing. Finally, once I realized the poor condition my nose was in I relieved it several times and I wondered why he remained in my room to be exposed to the disgusting act since he turned away. But after my nasal passages were cleared, with the rest of me feeling more exhausted than before, he moved back and casually started a question not directly related to my illness yet still expressing concern.

"Is that better?"

"Yes, very much so."

"You're all settled then? Maybe you can take your boots, gloves and coat off, get under the blankets and lie down."

"I'm fine."

"Okay, I'll be right back."

"Wait, where are you going?"

"Oh I was gonna get you some things you need, cold medicine and a cup of tea or if you're hungry, soup."

"No I don't want any of that."

"Come on, you can't get better unless you take medicine and eating will pick up your strength."

"I'm not hungry and I understand I need medicine but right now can you just stay with me? I don't want you to go," I pleaded in a very unusual occurrence except I was feeling too awful to be alone plus he was so nice and even though my dependence threw him off guard, he went along with the request, insisting I lie down but after he got me settled he began to stare into the distance in a possibly uncomfortable disposition which required getting his attention, "Demyx?"

"Huh?"

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"I thought you just wanted me here, you didn't tell me what I should do. I'm sorry. I don't have a lot of experience taking care of someone sick or being sick for that matter."

"Yes I know that but I meant why are you taking care of me? There's no reason for you to waste your time."

"It's not a waste of time. Do you think you can take care of yourself?"

"That's not the issue. I haven't done anything to be in your debt."

"You didn't have to do anything. We're both nobodies and in the same organization. That means we look out for each other."

"Which organization are you a part of?"

"Yeah I know the way it is around here but that's how I think of it. I'm not the brightest, most useful or certainly the strongest. Still I can be the friendliest and nicest. Now I know that's not gonna get me a lot in our ruthless group of villains but I just can't be like everyone else. Besides if I'm all good and innocent no one expects me to do such a great job on my missions so being soft and weak has its upsides."

"Demyx you're not the weak one, I am."

"No, don't say things like that. Just because you caught a cold doesn't mean you're weak."

"There's a reason none of us have fallen ill, we're supposed to be stronger than that. Out of everyone here why did it happen to me?"

"Because you don't take care of yourself."

"What?"

"You overwork and when you aren't working, you're reading. I know you're focused on completing missions and doing what you like but you don't just stop to take time for yourself. You hardly get any sleep."

"Why would you know that?"

"It's obvious to tell when someone hasn't had enough sleep. Combined with that and this high stress environment it's no wonder you got sick. Don't you see? Your body's trying to let you know to slow down and if you don't listen to it, your cold will become something much worse. Anyway even though it isn't bad now, you still need to rest and maybe in the future you could take it easy, just a little bit."

"I suppose if it's that important."

"Of course it is! I'm so happy you agreed. Maybe when you have some free time we can hang out. I'm always relaxing and mellowing out to the beautiful sounds of my sitar. I could give you a private concert."

"How about now?"

"Really, you want me to play for you?"

"Yes it'll be like a lullaby and truthfully I always thought your music was really good."

He was surprised by the comment, perhaps from the fact that it came from me however I was too drained to worry about being friendly because he was right. I needed to sleep and knew the soothing notes from his instrument would do the trick. After he quickly got over it and began the performance, I wanted to stay awake to hear the whole thing except that tactic worked too well since it was only a few minutes before I felt my eyelids becoming heavier. He didn't seem to mind and the last image I saw was his understanding smile until finally I fell asleep.

It was possible that I work too hard, read too much and don't get enough sleep all of which caused my illness however just as he prescribed my symptoms seem diminished by the time I woke up. I still wasn't 100% well yet and spending the day sleeping in addition to simply relaxing was appealing except when I was about to resume my night's sleep the disruptive sound of a sneeze broke the peaceful atmosphere in my room. That was the moment I knew I wasn't alone.

I opened my eyes to notice him lying my bed with his back facing me and as a result of this occasion being so unexpected I jolted then gasped both of which created the effect of obtaining his attention. He slowly turned to me and immediately I was able to determine he succumbed to the same fate that afflicted me. His face was pale, void of all energy and his usual demeanor was far from present, in spite of that he choose to start up a conversation with his strained voice, probably picking up on the confused, shocked look I had.

"Did I disturb you?"

"No I was already up. Might I ask what you're doing?"

"It's not what you think. I started playing last night but you fell asleep and for some reason right after that I felt really tired so I needed to lie down. It couldn't wait and I only wanted to rest for a few minutes but it's been a lot longer than that, right? Don't be mad. I… I'm…" he explained, trying to get the rest out although as he progressed his breath started to hitch and before I could move away he forcefully sneezed but fortunately his head jerked forward then afterwards when he looked back up, rubbing his nose the sentence was finished, "Sorry."

"Would you like a tissue?"

"Yeah…"

I tried not to be disgusted by his sneezing and nose blowing since I had exposed him to the same yesterday but in also I couldn't help being sympathetic from watching him looking so miserable with the guilt that it was my fault. He didn't seem like he was about to get out of my bed anytime soon which wasn't such a problem since I could assess his condition, first by placing a hand on his forehead to check if his temperature increased. It was strange. Usually he is very easy going and cooperative however once I made contact he jolted then gave me an angry, confused look to begin objecting despite his now mumbled, slurred tone.

"What're you doing?"

"Trying to determine if you're running a fever."

"Don't, it's unnecessary."

"That's not true. You're warm."

"I am not."

"How're you feeling?"

"No."

"I beg your pardon?"

"The question's irrelevant."

"You're being difficult."

"How can you say that? You're so mean. I'm tired, again. Let me just sleep for a little while longer."

"Stay awake for now. The fact is we're both sick and need to take a dose of medicine. I know you're not feeling well but have a little patience, please?"

"Zexion… I'm not sick."

"Really?"

"Yeah I told you I'm just tired."

"Stop denying it. You're only making it worse. This happened because of me."

"You did this?"

"Yes I sneezed on you, accidentally of course, so you were exposed to my germs. It was inevitable you would catch a cold as well. Do you understand now?"

Once the realization sunk in, he appeared to fall into a state of contemplation with a blank expression and reviewed what was explained to make me uneasy he might be upset although that wasn't it. For a moment he had me nervous until his arm was brought up and he sneezed into it three times, being left exhausted except now there was a weary smile which didn't correspond to his previous behavior.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks."

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because this is so stupid, what kinda nobody catches a cold?"

"That wasn't what you said to me. You were compassionate and rational yesterday when you discussed the situation from my perspective."

"Well I don't have any compassion or rationality right now. Damn it! How could this happen? I'm gonna get punished because I can't go on missions, not like it matters since I always screw them up and everyone's gonna think I'm even more pathetic than I already am. This is terrible. How do I fix this?"

"Demyx you need to calm down otherwise you'll only worsen your condition. It's my fault you're sick, not yours so if you want to blame someone, blame me not yourself. I never said you had to take care of me and probably should've made you stay away but for some reason I couldn't refuse your help. So I'm really sorry for making you sick."

"Don't be, it's not your fault but I understand your point too that it's not my fault. Maybe this is the way things are supposed to happen. I could use a nice break from work even though I'm miserable. I was just panicking but you made me feel better. Thanks. Still I can't believe this happened. I feel completely gnarly: my nose won't stop running, my throat burns, my head's pounding and I have a fever. But you must be going through the same stuff too."

"Truthfully, there's only one thing that bothers me about being sick now."

"Oh really, what?"

"Experiencing something so close to how we used to be is unnerving. We're expected to focus on the selves we are now and not remember our others' lives but going through this reminds me of the way it used to be before I lost my heart."

"How so?"

"I was the youngest among the group of apprentices, one child along with 5 adults. It made me feel pathetic and helpless as I do now except I don't remember getting sick there. I would've been treated even more like a child if I did. What about you? Did you ever come down with colds or whatever other disease before you became a nobody?"

"I don't know and don't really wanna know. I think you're right. It's…" he started to reply but was interrupted by a sneeze that barely missed me again and after he blew his nose despite looking even more exhausted he managed to finish his thought, "Ugh sorry, it's not good to focus too much on what it was like back then. It doesn't matter anyways because the only thing on my mind now is: what should we do about missions?"

"I'm certain Lexaeus can cover for the missions I miss and if I ask him, he can make up yours too. Does this mean you're not upset with me?"

"Nah, I don't think I can really be upset with anyone. Hey, do you mind if I stay here some more? I'm pretty sure I can't move. My body's so heavy right now."

"It's fine. You should rest and for your information Demyx, you're not weak either. In fact you might be the strongest one of us all."

"That can't be true… but thanks for saying it."

He smiled before returning to his previous position of having his back to me and I also shifted to stare up at the ceiling, trying to overcome the awkwardness of sharing my bed. I was uncomfortable and still not completely recovered but even so, it came as a great relief to be taken care of.


End file.
